The exemplary embodiment relates to communication with users of a shared device and finds particular application in a network printing system, in which devices, such as printers, are utilized by different users.
Network printing systems may include one or several networked printers or multi-function devices (MFDs) shared by the people in an organization. Given a device, the set of people using it form a de facto user community. There are many circumstances where it would be advantageous for community members to communicate with each other. For example, it would be helpful to be able to alert other users that a large job is being printed on one printer, which would give other users the opportunity to reroute their jobs to another network printer. Or, if one printer is undergoing repair or awaiting a service call, it would be useful to let the users of that printer know. However, current print networks make this difficult. Emails sent to all the people in an organization having multiple printers would be distracting, since for many users, the information would not be applicable to them. Further, while an email distribution list could be established for a given device, it would require considerable time in setting up by printer administrators. The lists would also need regular maintenance to take account of employees moving locations within the organization or leaving the organization, the arrival of newcomers, changes in printer types and locations, and so forth. Additionally, users may use one printer for regular printing and another for color printing or jobs requiring special paper or ink. Users may also run out of consumables (ink, toner, paper, and the like) at one printer location and either send documents to another printer or search for replacement consumables at other printer locations.
The exemplary embodiment provides a system and method which, in various embodiments, address some or all of these device-centric communication problems.